Stage 2 of the Critérium du Dauphiné is a hilly race with the last 30 kilometres almost entirely on descent. Pascal Ackermann sprints to victory ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Daryl Impey. The South-African is the new overall leader thanks to a time bonus of 4 seconds.(Slideshow route/profile)

Race report Once the flag is dropped Stalnov, Duchesne, Périchon and Backaert go clear. They race to a lead of more than 6 minutes before the peloton takes them on a leash.

On the last climb, Col du Fût d’Avenas, Backaert is back in the peloton, while the pack is 1 minute behind the other three. Tolhoek and Herrada go after the leaders and a lot of sprinters – for instance Coquard – are dropped.

Tolhoek and Herrada are almost brought back when Guillaume Martin bridges across. Tolhoek stops his efforts and Moscon takes his place, but the three are gobbled up.

Stalnov heads out alone with 10 kms to go. He widens the gap before he is caught with 900 metres to go. In the ensuing sprint Pascal Ackermann outpowers Edvald Boasson Hagen and Daryl Impey. Thanks to a time bonus of 4 seconds the South-African is the new overall leader. Kwiatkowski – who crashed 1.5 kilometres before the line – is second at 2 seconds with Gianni Moscon 3 more seconds back.